The Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor recorded a version for her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990), co-produced with Nellee Hooper.

[4] In 1993, Prince released a live version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals, on his compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides.

[5] The Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor recorded a version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" for her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990), with a new arrangement by her and the producer Nellee Hooper.

Yashiki utilized an Atari ST computer running C-Lab Notator sequencing software and an Akai S1100 sampler.

Since I've been shouting the praises of Sinéad's remarkable interpretation of this Prince-penned tune to many of you for over a month, it was safe to assume it would eventually end up on this page.

"[18] A reviewer from Los Angeles Times noted that the singer "match raw emotion with spare sounds" on "the quiet, desperate, lovelorn beauty".

"[20] Pan-European magazine Music & Media stated that out of all the recent covers of Prince songs – Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You", Tom Jones' "Kiss" and Simple Minds' "Sign o' the Times" – "this is definitely the most convincing."

The reviewer noted further that originally recorded by Minneapolis band the Family for their 1985 debut album, "O'Connor's emotionally charged version has immediate appeal", and is "destined to be her biggest hit to date.

"[21] David Giles from Music Week found that the song "is not one of Prince's finest moments, and O'Connor does little to disguise this fact bar a few token vocal somersaults.

"[22] The Network Forty's reviewer wrote that "when Sinéad sang 'Nothing Compares 2 U', seas calmed, angels wept and Top 40 radio stood still to listen to this powerful expression of unrequited love.

"[23] James Brown from NME said, "Pining for a recently departed love, Sinéad hits the lyrics with an immense range of vocal ability and passion.

[28] In 2010, Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger noted it as a "very moving track", and added that it "captures the stasis, anger and devastation of a bad break-up with awful accuracy."

"[29] In a 2000 review, Steven Wells from NME said "it remains one of the best 'boo-hoo, my bloke's left me' pop songs ever recorded", and a "stark reminder that O'Connor is blessed with an amazing and unique voice".

"[30] In 2009, Mark Richardson from Pitchfork stated that "you have to look pretty hard to find a better expression in pop music of the void that exists when a relationship ends.

"[31] In a 2015 retrospective review, Pop Rescue wrote that O'Connor "makes light work" of the track, and she's "having plenty of power to belt out the lyrics at the right points."

[32] In 2004, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that it perhaps is O'Connor's "greatest vocal achievement" and described it as a "classic torch song she quite simply owns.

"[33] In 1993, Prince released a live version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals, on his compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides.

[citation needed] Prince's 1984 demo (albeit in newly mixed form by Tony Maserati)[38] was released as a single in 2018 by Warner Bros. Records in conjunction with his estate.

"Nothing Compares 2 U" was Britain's biggest-selling new recording of 1990, ranking number two in the year-end chart behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' 1965 hit "Unchained Melody".

"Nothing Compares 2 U" rose steadily over the next four weeks – no doubt bolstered by the increasing exposure of the song's video on MTV – before reaching number one in the issue dated April 21.